Zardari, Mush praise Edhi

ISLAMABAD - Former President Asif Ali Zardari has expressed profound grief and sorrow over the passing away of Abdul Sattar Edhi “a saint, a giver and an awe inspiring social worker who commanded incomparable respect within the country and profound admiration abroad”.

Pakistan today is poorer with the passing away of an icon who extricated millions of poor from distress transcending above considerations of religion, ethnicity and faith, said Zardari in a condolence message.

Meanwhile, All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) President Gen. (retd) Pervez Musharraf and Secretary General Dr. Amjad have also paid glowing tributes to late Abdul Sattar Edhi and said that the vacuum created by his death could not be filled in centuries to come.

Expressing their profound grief and sorrow over the loss of matchless social worker whose services for humanity were unprecedented.

Zardari said, “Edhi was a towering man the likes of whom are born once in generations.”

Edhi was driven by a boundless passion to help the poor, the needy and those in distress. For this he chose to live a very austere life and literally begged on streets to collect donations, the former President said.

“Edhi’s example of selfless struggle over decades is a beacon of light that will illumine the path of generations to come”.

Even in a distant future his name will inspire images of caring the poor, of burying the dead, of sheltering the orphans, of owning abandoned women and children, of rehabilitating drug addicts and mentally ill, of taking victims of road accidents to hospitals and of rescuing people hit by disasters, Zardari said.

May Allah rest his soul in eternal peace and grant patience to his immediate family, to the poor and needy whom he treated as his extended family, to the workers of Edhi Foundation, indeed to the entire bereaved nation to bear this great loss with equanimity, Zardari said.